Pediatric News

Abstract

BETHESDA, Md.—Kristine R. Crews, PharmD, has been named the recipient of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Research and Education Foundation's 2012 Award for Innovation in Pharmacy Practice Literature Award.Dr. Crews is a graduate of the Rutgers University Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy.Dr. Crews is the Director of the Translational Research Laboratory and Director of the PGY2 Residency in Clinical Pharmacogenetics at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Her winning article, “Development and Implementation of a Pharmacist-Managed Clinical Pharmacogenetics Service,” (Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2011;68:143–50) was co-authored with Shane J. Cross, PharmD, John N. McCormick, PharmD, Donald K. Baker, PharmD, MBA., Alejandro R. Molinelli, PhD, Richard Mullins, PhD, Mary V. Relling, PharmD, and James M. Hoffman, PharmD, MS.Dr. Crews's winning paper describes a clinical pharmacogenetics service—one of the first in the country—that she helped establish. The service uses knowledge of patients' genes to guide the dosing of certain medications. “Great strides have been made in research on how genes influence drug responses,” said Dr. Crews. “The timing is right to now use the knowledge we've gained to translate these findings into safer and more effective drug therapy for our patients. We are now able to use genetic results to tailor drug treatment to the individual patient. Pharmacists, as the medication experts, can recognize opportunities for pharmacogenetic testing and interpret the test results for the clinical team.”Her interest in the field of clinical pharmacogenetics grew out of her dual interests in patient care and in research. “It's one thing to conduct genetics research in the laboratory and to make discoveries,” she said. “But what compels me as a clinical researcher is the ability to use those discoveries to make a difference in a patient's care, by doing a DNA test on a patient up front to decide what medicine and what dose the patient should get.” Emma Tillman, PharmD, BCNSP was recently awarded a $25,000 ASPEN Rhoads Research Foundation grant toward her research on omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in parenteral nutrition associated liver disease. The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) is an interdisciplinary organization whose members are involved in the provision of clinical nutrition therapies, including parenteral and enteral nutrition and is the leading U.S.-based, non-profit organization dedicated to improving patient care by advancing the science and practice of nutrition support therapy.Bernd Meibohm, PhD, professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and associate dean for Research and Graduate Programs has been elected as 2012–14 president-elect of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP). His term began during the ACCP Annual Meeting September 23–25, 2012 in San Diego. The president-elect is part of the executive committee and assumes the duties of the president in their absence.Dr. Meibohm received a BS in pharmacy and PhD in pharmaceutics from the Technical University of Carolo-Wilhelmina in Braunschweig, Germany. After completion of a clinical pharmacology research fellowship at the University of Florida in 1997, he joined the faculty of the University of South Carolina. In 1999, he joined the University of Tennessee. Dr. Meibohm's scientific interests include pulmonary infectious and inflammatory diseases, pediatric pharmacotherapy and the application of quantitative modeling and simulation techniques in preclinical and clinical drug development, with specific focus on therapeutic proteins.Dr. Meibohm also serves as associate editor for the AAPS Journal, as section editor for ‘Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics’ for the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, and is a member of the editorial boards for the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, Les Annales Pharmaceutiques Françaises and Die Pharmazie.